Rail hospital scam: CBI names officials, kin
The Central Bureau of Investigation (CBI) has registered a case against the Office Superintendent of Northern Railway Central Hospital (NRCH) in New Delhi, his wife: a nursing officer at the same hospital and five others, including two representatives of a private hospital in Dwarka, for allegedly running a systematic bribery racket involving the clearance of inflated medical bills under Northern Railways’ health scheme.
The FIR, registered on February 19, 2026, names Dileep Kumar Chawla, Office Superintendent at NRCH, as the key accused. His wife, Jyoti Chawla, an Assistant Nursing Officer at the same hospital, has been named for allegedly helping him collect and conceal bribe money, including in bank lockers. The case has been registered under Sections 7, 8, 9, and 12 of the Prevention of Corruption Act, 1988, and Section 61(2) of BNS, 2023, covering criminal conspiracy, bribery of public servants, and abetment.According to the FIR, private hospitals empanelled under the Northern Railways Health Scheme refer railway beneficiaries for treatment and subsequently submit bills to NRCH for reimbursement. These bills, including inflated or deficient ones, were processed and passed by Chawla and a junior clerk, Hasan Yadav, before being forwarded to the Medical Accounts Section at Baroda House.
At Baroda House, Senior Section Officer Hirakant Choudhary and Junior Accounts Assistant Raghuvendra Singh allegedly issued payment orders in exchange for bribes. Hospital representatives are paid at each stage to get bills cleared quickly. Venkateshwar Hospital in Dwarka, whose representatives Manish Aggarwal and Kunal are named in the FIR, is the specific private hospital at the centre of the investigation.
The FIR documents a detailed money trail. On January 7 and 8, 2026, Chawla informed Aggarwal that hospital bills worth approximately Rs. 75 lakh were being processed. He subsequently demanded more money, telling Aggarwal on January 10 and again on January 13 that he had received only Rs. 1.25 lakh so far and needed to share a portion with senior officials and accounts staff at Baroda House.
On January 29, Chawla informed Raghuvendra Singh that he had sent Rs.50,000 as a bribe to be shared with Choudhary. On February 6, Jyoti Chawla asked her husband to access their bank locker, which the FIR says indicates regular accumulation of illegal money from such transactions. On February 10, Chawla went a step further, allegedly
instructing Choudhary to block payments of certain hospitals while fast-tracking payments for select ones, including Venkateshwar Hospital.
The case came to a head on February 19, when Kunal contacted Chawla to confirm his presence in the office for delivering a bribe. Chawla directed him to come in the afternoon. The CBI moved the same day.
The FIR also mentions “unknown public servants and private persons” as accused, suggesting the probe may widen. A copy of the FIR has been sent to the Chief Vigilance Officer of Northern Railways at Baroda House, and to the Special Judge handling CBI cases at Rouse Avenue District Courts, New Delhi.
